Evidence that an episodic mode of thinking facilitates encoding of perceptually rich memories for naturalistic events relative to a gist-based mode of thinking

ABSTRACT

Several studies have demonstrated that an episodic specificity induction (ESI) can influence cognitive abilities that involve episodic processes at retrieval. To better understand the downstream implications of an “episodic mode of thinking,” we investigate whether an ESI influences encoding of new events. In a between-subjects design, participants were given an ESI or gist (control) induction. In an ostensibly unrelated task, participants then were shown film clips of naturalistic events. After a filled delay, participants were given a surprise memory test, which required narrative recollection of the film clips. Participants who received the ESI generated narratives that contained more perceptual details specifically. Relative to gist thinking, an episodic mode of thinking appears to facilitate encoding of perceptually rich memories for naturalistic events.     

Unsinnig: A Reply to Hutto∗

Abstract

In the late 1930s Heidegger makes allusions to ‘the wild’ and ‘the mild’ in connection with a human liberation that he understands as a steadfast response to the claim that historical being (Seyn) makes upon us. The following paper elucidates these allusions in terms of the overturning of metaphysics that they entail.     

集体主义内隐观的访谈和调查研究

在扩充样本的基础上进一步探讨集体主义概念内涵,挖掘“集体”的具体指向,明确“集体”构成.研究一通过40个被试的内隐观访谈和质性分析,得到集体主义概念五个方面内容（集体认同、集体优先、联结信念、责任与义务、发生的条件）,指出“集体”的具体指向为泛集体和关系集体,集体主义程度与冲突情境有关.研究二通过102份问卷调查和聚类分析,得到三类集体,即关系比较亲密集体（由母亲、亲兄弟/姐妹、配偶、好友构成）、关系一般集体（由认识的人、亲戚、同事、邻居构成）和关系疏远集体（由本地陌生人、国外陌生人构成）,并进一步明确了“集体”的具体构成.结论认为：集体主义概念内涵包括集体认同、集体优先、联结信念、责任与义务、发生的条件五个部分;集体主义中的“集体”由泛集体和关系集体构成,其中关系集体又分为关系比较亲密集体和关系一般集体.     

Memory for Actions of an Event: Older and Younger Adults Compared

Previous studies have shown increased false memory effects in older compared to younger adults. To investigate this phenomenon in event memory, in the present study, the authors presented younger and older adults with a robbery. A distinction was made between verbal and visual actions of the event, and recognition and subjective experience of retrieval (remember/know/guess judgments) were analyzed. Although there were no differences in hits, older adults accepted more false information as true and, consequently, showed less accurate recognition than younger adults. Moreover, older adults were more likely than younger adults to accompany these errors with remember judgments. Young adults accepted fewer false verbal actions than visual ones and awarded fewer remember judgments to their false alarms for verbal than for visual actions. Older adults, however, did not show this effect of type of information. These results suggest that aging is a relevant factor in memory for real-life eyewitness situations.     

Family characteristics and health behaviours of adolescents and families

Abstract

The relationship between general family characteristics, represented by family cohesion and adaptability, and health behaviours (smoking, alcohol use, food choice, sleeping, Body Mass Index, and physical activity) is studied in a first study of 429 adolescents and young adults, and in a second study of 522 family triads (adolescent-mother-father). Using cluster analysis, adolescent groups with four different profiles of health behaviour were identified. Very similar results were found in the two studies. The health behaviour patterns in the different subgroups show that forms of (un)desirable health behaviours are interrelated in some clusters. Adolescents in the most healthy clusters, consistently reported highest levels of family cohesion. The relationship between family adaptability and health behaviours showed only limited significance. In families characterised by a high level of emotional bonding between family members together with stability and regularity in roles rules and power structure, adolescents' behaviour is the most healthy. The findings suggest that parental involvement is desirable in health promotion intervention. Further, it seems possible that health behaviours originate from a relatively small set of family Characteristics and that modifying family interactions might be powerful, albeit very difficult to do so, in changing a variety of health behaviours in adolescents.     

Patterns of coping in rheumatoid arthritis

Abstract

One hundred and fifty eight outpatients were assessed on a 36 item coping questionnaire in order to examine the impact of coping on the disability and psychological well being of individuals with rheumatoid arthritis. To consider the total pattern of coping strategies accepted and rejected by these individuals, the data was subjected to a cluster analysis. Hierarchical clustering techniques suggested the four group solution as optimum. Following a k means iterative solution external validity for the four groups was considered. The main findings indicate that the pattern of coping exerts a significant influence on symptom perception, disability and psychological well being. The findings are discussed in relation to two approaches to the impact of coping on chronic illness.     

心脏冠状动脉多层CT检查——临床上我们是否应用得当?

心脏冠状动脉多层CT扫描目前在对心脏进行整体扫描进而发现冠状动脉狭窄或冠状动脉钙化方面应用较多,但从经济费用-临床效益比值考虑,是否所有患者均需进行此项检查值得商榷。为降低患者就诊成本,我们认为,对于年轻非糖尿病患者可先根据Framingham冠心病危险量表进行测算患者未来10年出现冠心病的危险度,如果根据此量表计算的患者未来10年出现冠心病的危险度10%的中度以上危险度的患者,才应该给予心脏冠状动脉多层CT扫描检查以了解其是否需要进一步深入治疗。     

On the power of the test for cluster bias

Cluster bias refers to measurement bias with respect to the clustering variable in multilevel data. The absence of cluster bias implies absence of bias with respect to any cluster‐level (level 2) variable. The variables that possibly cause the bias do not have to be measured to test for cluster bias. Therefore, the test for cluster bias serves as a global test of measurement bias with respect to any level 2 variable. However, the validity of the global test depends on the Type I and Type II error rates of the test. We compare the performance of the test for cluster bias with the restricted factor analysis (RFA) test, which can be used if the variable that leads to measurement bias is measured. It appeared that the RFA test has considerably more power than the test for cluster bias. However, the false positive rates of the test for cluster bias were generally around the expected values, while the RFA test showed unacceptably high false positive rates in some conditions. We conclude that if no significant cluster bias is found, still significant bias with respect to a level 2 violator can be detected with an RFA model. Although the test for cluster bias is less powerful, an advantage of the test is that the cause of the bias does not need to be measured, or even known.     

What Do We Compare When We Compare Religions? Philosophical Remarks on the Psychology of Studying Comparative Religion Abroad

The issue of comparison is a vexing one in religious and theological studies, not least for teachers of comparative religion in study abroad settings. We try to make familiar ideas fresh and strange, in settings where students may find it hard not to take “fresh” and “strange” as signs of existential threat. The author explores this delicate pedagogical situation, drawing on several years' experience directing a study abroad program and on the thought of figures from the Western existentialist tradition and Chinese Confucian philosophy. The article focuses particularly on “oh events” – defined as moments when one learns one has something to learn and something to unlearn. The author argues that the experience of shame that is typical of oh events can become a valuable resource for cross‐cultural learning and personal transformation, if teachers assist students to reflect on the experience as a sign of differing, but potentially harmonizable, cultural expectations. This essay is published alongside of six other essays, including a response from John Barbour, comprising a special section of the journal (see Teaching Theology and Religion 18:1, January 2015).